ford

A few updates and random thoughts, followed by some great posts I hope you check out:

A few weeks ago I wrote about how our IT department is being insourced. We have received a few more details. Our official offer letters should be arriving any day now. They were promised by the 15th, so if that still holds, I’ll know what’s what in a week. We did find out that our years of service will be credited from when we started, so I’ll come in with six years of service. This means I’ll get roughly the same amount of time off as I do today, and has a few implications for benefits and such. There is a lot of nervousness that they’ll be coming in offering less pay than we make today. I think that’s just normal jitters, and I’m staying optimistic that it’ll be the same or better as what I am getting today.

Did you hear about the Walmart glitch on Wednesday where the website had prices of various items at outrageously low prices? I sure did. I found a 55″ TV for $329, and while it was sold out online, it said that my local store had one. Which, when I called, they confirmed that they did. But, they were already aware by that point that the prices were a mistake (they had $800 treadmills ringing up for $33, computer monitors for $9, and new release video games for $17), and were not honoring those prices. I read a few forums where people said they got in and picked up stuff right away, so it sounds like a lucky few were able to take advantage of the glitch, but sadly, we did not find an easy way to replace our damaged TV.

As a Ford stockholder, I’m a little annoyed at the activity on the stock. Ford beat earnings a couple of weeks ago, and hit over $18 per share. Since then it’s been on a somewhat steady decline, around the mid-$16 range, all on virtually no news. I think institutional investors want a dividend increase, and are passively letting Ford know that they need to increase the payout. Hopefully the stock reverses course soon!

Here are some great articles I thought you’d enjoy as well as listing a few carnivals I’ve been included in recently:

Money and Potatoes has been making some side money by selling plasma and blogs about all aspects involved, financial and otherwise.

Monica on Money lists eight warning signs that you might be living beyond your means.

Krantcents outlines a subtle difference between a wish and a dream, then goes on to illustrate how one can lead to big rewards if you take hold of it.